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North Bay Fires: Santa Rosa's Journey's End Trailer Park in Ruins

Damian Trujillo shows the remains of the Journey's End Trailer Park after one of several wildfires burning in Northern California ripped through the community. (Published Monday, Oct. 9, 2017)

Nancy Cook’s dogs sounded the alarm in the middle of the night and she looked out the window to see the flames about a mile away. She never thought they’d reach the Journey’s End trailer park she called home.

But like many who made a pre-dawn dash for their lives in California’s wine country Monday, Cook discovered how fast a wind-driven inferno could arrive at the door.

“My husband and I both thought it wouldn’t get here,” Cook. “It was way, way back there. A big gust of wind just sent it flying. ... Just literally in the blink of an eye.”

By daybreak nearly all of the roughly 160 units in the park for residents over age 55 were reduced to ash and charred, melted metal as flames continued to sprout from gas lines. The homes next to U.S. Highway 101 at the northern end of this city of 175,000 were among more than 1,000 that were consumed by flames as more than a dozen fires burned statewide.

The wildfire stampeded into the city while people were sleeping, torching fast-food businesses, a Hilton hotel and catching residents off guard and, in many cases, little time to escape with more than the clothes — or pajamas — on their backs.

They left behind beloved pet cats, wallets and a vintage collector’s car.

It was smoky when Linda Johnson went to bed around 11 p.m. When she woke up a few hours later, it was glowing red outside.

They were able to get out, but in their haste left behind a cat named River.

Charlie Brown said he woke up several neighbors after seeing the bright glow and helped a woman who used a walker get out of her home. He got in his van and drove around honking his horn before leaving.

He planned to return to retrieve his hot rod 1964 Ford Galaxie. But by the time he got back, fire had claimed the classic car.